


A Winner’s Comfort

by TheAngelofFate



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Apologies, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Episode: s04e06 Grudge Match, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Kluh hurt our boi physically so now he needs to reciprocate, Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:20:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26363305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAngelofFate/pseuds/TheAngelofFate
Summary: Missing moment from the episode “Grudge Match” where apologies are said and hugs ensue.
Relationships: Donatello & Michelangelo (TMNT), Leonardo & Michelangelo (TMNT), Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT), Michelangelo & Splinter (TMNT), Michelangelo (TMNT) & Everyone
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	A Winner’s Comfort

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BrightLotusMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightLotusMoon/gifts).



For the first time in his life, he was focused. His mind was clear, his body moved with purpose. Moved with an objective in mind, nothing but a chant going through one ear and back again.

 _Beat Kluh..._ _Protect my family. Make him see he should have never underestimated you_.

With a loud battle cry he managed to knock to the ground where he urged him on, practically begging for Mikey to finish him, as in strike that final blow, as in end his life life. Because that's what customs on the planet Levram, crude and horrible but something they followed without question. Well that might be something Kluh was raised on, but not Mikey.

His father raised him better then that.

Something he verbally announced, something he held closer to him then any trophy could ever make him feel. Reaching forward he flicked Kluh against the forehead and watched him fall to the ground, and the crowd in the stadium within the Battle Nexus cheered, something that once would have left him a grinning mess, like it had before. The cheers were proof he won, but that didn't stop him from feeling numb.

Raph and Donnie must be happy getting their wish, he still won, yes.

But Kluh had beaten him senseless.

Slowly, he straighten up and the moment he did, agony washed over him like an electric current. Adrenaline long since passed he was able to feel the full extent of his injuries. His body trembled, his plastron and shell felt like they had been split down the middle, was something warm dripped down his legs. Mikey sucked in a deep breathe and moaned as the actions sent a sharp pain through his sides. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe and he knew that wasn't good. He coughed into his hand, and his eyes widened when he pulled back and saw blood splattered along his hands.

The sight of his own blood, seemed to make everything in his mind tip, as black spots filled his vision. And he collapsed to the ground, the last thing he became aware of was the crowds gasps of surprise and his name being called out by several different voices.

* * *

When he came to, the first sense he gain back was his hearing. It was so quiet, and it was something he just wasn't use to. The quiet was something Leo enjoyed, something that his eldest brother seemed to live in whenever he could especially nowadays with his mood shifting into more of a brooding persona of Batman or Raph on a really bad day. Something to which it seemed that Mikey was the only one who knew why his brother was acting like that.

He hasn't said anything to his family, because he just thought it was obvious.

The longer the quiet drew on the more uneasy it made him feel. He made him to move, to adjust himself if only just a little and was immediately struck with a feeling of soreness, his entire body felt like it was on fire. The sudden jolt to his system made him let out a gasp as his eyes snapped open.

A familiar hand gently pressed against his plastron, "Breathe, my son." Splinter said, his voice was as gently and soothing as ever, "Your wounds have still yet to heal."

Mikey looked behind Splinter's head and saw his brother's coming towards him. " _Mikey_!" Donnie and Raph called out in unison. "You're awake!" He gave his big bros a little wave, and winced when a jolt of pain travel from his finger tips, all the way to his shoulder. His eyes traveled down and saw he was covered in bandages, from head to toe. 

Shell, just how bad had he been injured?

As if someone read his mind, a healer walked over to him and gave him a detailed list of his injuries:

> _Two broken ribs,_ one of them had even almost punctured his lung,

> _A two small fractures in his left arm along his wrist and forearm,_ from where Kluh had held him up like a trophy
> 
> _A mild concussion,_ something that he didn't surprise him in the least.
> 
> _Internal bleeding,_ as well as many _lacerations_ along his body, Kluh's punches must have somehow made it past the safety that his shell and plastron had provided

The healer moved forward, and placed a hand against his forehead and murmured out a little chant. "You had many other injuries beyond those, but those were the major ones we focused on healing. Your mind may be foggy for the first few hours after waking, but that is normal. You were very lucky, champion."

Jeez, no wonder he felt like hell.

Kluh literally used him as a punching bag. Normally, that would have caused Mikey to groan and complain like he had when Shredder had broken his legs, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and looked at Raph and Don, and gave them a smile, as the healer walked away, "Well, looks like you both got what you wanted?"

Raph narrowed his eyes, while Donnie blinked at him. "What do you mean, Mikey?"

Mikey waved them off with his good arm, " _'Ground me into paste?'_ or _'After I take a horrendous beating?_ '" He gestured with his arm, as he listed the thing Raph spoke towards him before the match with Kluh had started. "I thought looking at me now," He gestured once more towards his broken body. "That all _this,_ getting beaten into the ground, you'd both be happy?"

The air around him changed after that.

Mikey watched as Raph's eyes widened in shock and Donnie looked horrified. "How can ya say that, Mikey!?" The tension and anger in Raph voice' as his brother stepped forward made Mikey shrunk into himself, flinching involuntarily, expecting to be hit, like he almost always was when he said something stupid.

Don reached towards him, eyes shining with guilt. "We'd never wanted that, Mikey... You almost..." Don closed his eyes as thought he remembered something painful. "You stopped _breathing_."

That made him blink

The haze, the fog around his mind seemed to settle then, but never actually faded away.

He'd stopped breathing?

As in he _died_?

Donnie swallowed, brown eyes filled with pain, as Raph shifted uncomfortably. "The other injuries the healer mentioned? They were more severe then he let on. They shouldn't have been that bad, but... but _something_ happened and you just stopped breathing."

Mikey blinked the haze from his eyes, as confusion filled him, he tilted his head to the side, "Isn't that... what you wanted though?"

If the air had gotten thick with tension before, it got so much worse at those words.

Don let out a choked noise as ran forward, fell to his knees by Mikey's side, tears darkening Don's mask as they pooled over and down his cheeks, then as gently as he could, he pressed his forehead against Mikey's temple and began to apologize profusely. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean for you to..." Mikey blinked up at his brother, and felt Don shaking. " _Never_ Mikey, I'd never want you too die or get hurt so severely..."

Raph knelt down next to him, "Mike, I... I know I said those things' but I didn't mean ‘em... When I found out that battle was ta da death I was ready to ram into that barrier to help ya..."

Mikey's head started to hurt, it throbbed and he had to close his eyes in a poor attempt to make the pain go away. "But... you both, _wanted_ me to lose, cause I was being a pain in the ass." His gaze moved towards Master Splinter, "Sensei, you even said that yourself."

He watched as his father's ear drooped down in guilt. "My son, my reasoning was to teach you _humility_. I know that you feel low in your worth, and that winning the Battle Nexus the very first time had made you feel _important_ , but the greatest thing anyone can do in winning, my son, is to show _modesty_ , not believe they need not need more training to improve themselves. Because _everyone_ has the power to always learn _more_. Even adults can learn and grow." Splinter leaned down and stroked his cheek. "But I see now my error, my words hurt you to the point where you truly believed our love for you is nonexistence."

"But..." Mikey shook his head, swallowing a lump in his throat. "But you guys were _right_ though, I didn't deserve it back then. And I was show boating before, so I _deserved_ to get my shell smashed, right?"

"No, _no_... Mike." Don looked at him, eyes still holding onto that pain, "We were _wrong_. Just because we were annoyed with you for bragging doesn't mean we ever wanted you to die. You're amazing, our bright little star."

“Ya maybe a knucklehead, but yer still my lil bro. _Our_ lil firecracker and I ain't never wanted ta lose ya."

A thick grey fog began to claim him then, wrapping around him and pulling him down into the safety of dreamland as a haze developed completely around his vision, distantly, he heard his brothers and father speak to him,

  
“We love you." They said with honesty, with love.

He had accepted long ago that his family thought him anymore then what he acted. Hell, he himself accepted long before the rest his family that he wouldn't ever be anything more then what he was, average. And even though he craved for approval from his brothers and father, this was something he just thought was true.

But to know that they truly cared, that they were looking at him now and they loved him just as much no matter how much he annoyed them, it was enough to make Mikey smile as he fell into darkness once more.

* * *

When he gained consciousness once more, Mikey realized that his head didn't feel as hazy then it had before, he felt like he could think clearly. 

He opened his eyes and through blurry vision he realized how considerably darker it had gotten since the last time he had woken. The infirmary would have been totally quiet had it not been for the familiar sounds of Raphael snoring in the background. Mikey rolled his eyes and turned to see where everyone was. Sensei was asleep over curled up on the floor, while Donnie and Raph were both propped up against a pillar that was the closest to him, leaning on each other for support, as Don's fingers brushed against his upper arm.

It was only then that he noticed Leo was nowhere to be seen. 

Immediately, Mikey couldn't help the fear he felt at not knowing where he brother was. He sat up, forced his body and mind to focus and find Leo, when a gentle hand landed against his plastron and "Don't get up just yet, Michelangelo."

Mikey turned and from out of the darkness, Leo immerged, " _Leo_..." Mikey sighed, relief filled him and he let his brother push him back down against the pillow. "Don't _do_ that, bro. You know I hate not knowing where you guys are." Leo blinked down at him, but did not respond. And Mikey noticed then how calm his eldest brother's expression was, how monotoned. Almost... almost like he didn't _care_.

A felt a pit grow in his stomach.

When Leo had offered to help train him for his battle with Kluh, Mikey had been utterly grateful. Because Leo had been the only one who decided to even bother to help him, whether it was simply brother taking pity on him or that he genuinely didn't want to see Mikey get hurt, he really didn't know, because though his big brother was helping him, he was still talking to him in his _Batman_ voice. Still calling him Michelangelo

No Mikey

No Mike

Or Monkey  
  
Nothing, just formal names.

Leonardo keeping him at a distance, treating him as more of a soldier rather then a little brother.

And Mikey _understood_ why Leo was acting like this, he really, _really_ did.

But...

That didn't mean he didn't want his brother back. Didn't want the Leonardo he grew up with, the big brother he admired so much. He missed his brother and the thought that Leo, even back then thought less of him because of who he was.

It hurt...

He didn't noticed the tears swelling in his eyes, until they were slipping down the sides of his face. “L- _Leo_...” His heart hurt and he felt like his brother was ten thousand miles away even though he was sitting right next to him.

Leo’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before becoming calm once more. “What is it, Michelangelo?”

Something snapped within Mikey then, something painful seemed to hit square in the chest. 

He swatted Leo’s hand always from his plastron, his eyes burning. “If I had gotten this hurt before you would have been like Don or Raph had... concerned but you weren’t. You weren’t even _there_ to tell me you cared, that you didn’t think I was a burden. _Do you even care!?_ ” Mikey accused loud enough to hear but low enough to not wake the rest of their family. “I know your being like this for a reason, I _get_ it but— I _hate_ how you have to just distance yourself from us because it makes it easier to care less!”

He was tired, in pain and emotionally compromised form the fight he just went through. His body ached while he forced himself to turn away from his brother, he just... couldn’t look at Leo. Couldn’t look at the form his brother chose to take in order to protect them all, and protect _himself_ from the inner guilt his felt.

Then he felt a gentle hand, press against the back of his shell. He stiffened at the contact, and continued to remain so even as those fingers traced small jittery circles a crossed his shell, Leo hadn’t offered comfort in a while, ever since this all start, so he was rusty, Mikey could feel.

Then something made his breath hitch

> _Oniwa ni iko_

> _Nanika ga matteru_

He hasn’t... heard that in a long time

He missed Leo’s singing, he didn’t realize just how much until he heard it again, after so long.

His eyes stung and those awkward circles along his shell turned less jittery and more soothing. Like the brother he knew was back. But Mikey still stubbornly disbelieved it’s because there was a possibility that Leo could merely be doing this to get him to stop crying.

“ _Mikey_... I—“

> _I’m sorry, this is all I can do. Please know that I care, but everything is so complicated right now, I can’t..._
> 
> _I can’t—_

That was the sense Mikey got, his throat felt overwhelmingly tight as a sob escape him and he moved, ignoring the protests of his body from moving with such speed and suddenness and just practically launch himself at his brother. Latching onto Leo like a koala would it’s mother, and trembled.

“Leo...” Mikey sniffed loudly, “L- _Leo_...”

He cried all the harder when he felt his big brother loop his arms around him in an awkward but loving embrace. 

It wasn’t like all the other times Leo comforted him before, it lacked something that made Leo, really _Leo_ , but he was _trying_ , trying to show he cared, while still fighting off those demons of his, in the only way he knows how.

Mikey would most definitely have to thank him properly later for his help, his words that spurred him on in his match with Kluh, but right now, it was enough. Moody Leo or no, his brother would always be enough.

**Author's Note:**

> So here I am rewatching the 2003 series because it’s still such a great show when I get to the episode Grudge Match and I got this urge to right kinda like a missing scene or an added scene where Raph, Donnie and even Splinter apologize for their treatment towards Mikey, so I decided to write this. 
> 
> Anyway, a penny for your thoughts? Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated in reviews if you all have the time.


End file.
